Between Us
by ThexInvisiblexGirl
Summary: [preRent] So how did this unlikely couple come to be? Another take on it, hopefully a different one. MarkMaureen. Please R&R!


**A/N- "to days of inspiration," indeed. I have no idea what came over me, but as you can see, the end of the semester has a positive affect on me. Reading lists are over, papers are almost over, and all that is left to do is writing oneshots… so this oneshot was written in like half an hour, on the bus on my way to work. This is another theory about the beginning of Mark and Maureen's relationship. Fae and me had a different theory in I Should Tell You, but this one is kind of different than the one we had there. I hope it hasn't been done before, although I don't remember reading such a thing. **

**You know what I think about reviews, don't you?…**

**Disclaimer- nope. Still not mine.**

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Between Us

"Anyone home?" Mark asked aloud as he slid the door open and let himself into the loft. Silence was the only sound that echoed back at him. It seemed like no one was there. Ah well. At least he'd have some peace and quiet to do some editing, he told himself, already halfway to his room to take out his equipment.

His hand froze halfway to the doorknob as he suddenly heard something. A rustle. That's strange, he thought. His mind started racing. He only hoped it wasn't a rat. They had the pleasure of encountering those disgusting creatures the previous week. He wouldn't admit it in front of the guys, but the sight of a rat was enough to scare the shit out of him. He acted like such a girl. This was not something he was proud of, but he couldn't help it. Luckily, when they had seen the rats the week before, Roger and Benny were there to handle them. But now, if this _was_ a rat wandering around the loft… it was just the two of them. An involuntary shiver ran through him. Ugh. He didn't even want to think about it.

He stepped away from the door and stood there quietly, just listening. The rustle didn't sound like a rustle anymore. It seemed to come from down the hall. It didn't sound like a rat, either. It sounded more like… could it be…

His eyebrows knotted together in confusion as he passed Roger's room. Collins and Benny's room was next. His forehead cringed as he approached the last door. _Her_ room. Yep, it definitely got from in there. But what the hell? Should he just barge in on her, bother her like that? Maybe she wanted to be alone.

She. Using this pronoun was weird. Kind of unfamiliar. It was a bit strange to have a girl in the loft after so many months of living there, just the guys. Maureen Johnson, their new roommate, was a friend of Collins' and new in the City. They met in the college she went to, where he was teaching a seminar. They became really close and stayed in touch ever since. Then, after several months, she moved to New York, to find her destiny on the stages of Broadway. She didn't have a place to live, and sharing the rent with another person might make it easier on them. Collins rationalized that it was the perfect solution for all sides. And Collins always knew better than all of them. So she moved in with them.

She lived with them for two weeks so far. He hardly said a word to her all this time, being the shy guy he had always been. He found silence safer than embarrassing himself in front of someone like her. Sure, he found her attractive. Every sane, normal, straight man would. She was beautiful. Stunning actually. He did a better job hiding his feelings, as opposed to Benny, for example. His obvious interest in her was almost pathetic. It started with suggesting that she'd take his room while he'd share a room with Collins. She was grateful at his offer, but not in the way he was hoping for. Most of the times, he made a complete fool out of himself. Even Roger, although fairly happy with April, couldn't help throwing suggestive innuendoes at her every now and then. She didn't take them seriously though, not even good-looking Roger, who seemed to be just her type.

She was so different than Mark. She was so cheerful and energetic, always on her way out to an audition or a party, always with some good-looking guy. He, on the other hand, preferred the company of his camera on sitting in a crowded bar with people he didn't know. He didn't mind her though. She led her life, and he led his, and their paths never crossed. She never tried to invade his privacy in any way, but he related this to the fact they hardly spoke to one another. He tried to do the same.

But now… he was standing closer to her bedroom's door, which was half open, and he had no doubts. She was crying.

He didn't think he'd even seen her cry. Of course, two weeks weren't a lot of time for making this kind of generalization, but he thought he got her by now. She kept her vulnerability to herself, hidden behind her drama queen façade, as Benny well put it once. She probably thought there was no one in the loft to hear her. Should he knock and let her know she was wrong? He didn't want to embarrass her, but he didn't want to scare her either if she would suddenly walk out of the room and find him there. But then again… Maybe she just needed someone to talk to.

Mustering every bit of self-confidence he didn't even know he had, he knocked lightly on her door. "Maureen?" he asked quietly. "Is everything okay?"

Her sharp intake of breath confirmed his suspicions. She thought she was alone. She managed to say, "Yeah, I'm fine," in a tone that didn't really convince him.

Mark decided to act against his better judgment. He slowly opened the door and pocked his head inside. There she was, lying faced down on her bed. Her hair, long, beautiful dark brown curls, shaded her face as she cried into her pillow. It sounded serious. He stepped into the room. "Hey, are you okay?"

She raised her head from the pillow and looked at him, a bewildered expression on her face. She didn't realize he entered the room until he spoke, he guessed. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy. It didn't make her less beautiful in his eyes. "I'm fine," she repeated. He must have seen unconvinced, for she shook her head and sighed. "No I'm not," she admitted quietly, as more tears slid down her face. "I messed up," she whispered between her sobs that only grew stronger. "I really messed up…" He wasn't sure if she said it to him or to herself.

He had no idea what was wrong with her. She seemed really hurt. What could have possibly happen that made her cry like that? He hated seeing her so down. It was so unlike her. "Hey…" he said, sitting on the edge of her bed. This was something he could never imagine himself doing in any other circumstances, but this was different. She seemed really wrecked. He just wanted to comfort her. "I'm sure it's not that bad, whatever it is."

"I feel so stupid…"

Mark started to feel kind of scared. He didn't know what he was supposed to do with her. He had minimal experience with girls, not to mention girls who were crying the way Maureen did. "Just tell me what happened. Maybe I can help," he heard himself say.

Apparently, she didn't find it too comforting, for she gave him a dirty look through her veil of tears. "Look, buddy, you think you can take advantage of the situation and play the knight on the white horse, I can save you the trouble. You won't get any, okay? So if that's what you were hoping to get, you're wasting your time. Even more important, you're wasting _my_ time. Get lost."

Somehow, even this nasty monologue didn't intimidate him. Brewing some courage, he took her hand in his. "I'm here to listen, if you wanna talk about it."

"You won't understand," she said quietly, but didn't pull her hand away. He saw it as a good sign.

"Try me." Man, he didn't mean it the way it sounded. He hoped she wouldn't slap him. He really wanted to help her. She looked so miserable and hopeless, he just wanted to-

"I'm pregnant," she whispered, and buried her head in the pillow again as her sobbing resumed, louder than before.

Shit. How was he supposed to respond to _that_? "Oh." Yeah, _that_ was very helpful, he scorned himself, feeling like a complete jerk. "Are you… sure?" he asked carefully.

She nodded, wiping some tears away from her face. She didn't look at him as she talked. "I bought one of those pregnancy tests in the drugstore," she said, her voice more or less steady. "According to the instructions on the back, blue was supposed to be positive, and red negative."

"So it turned blue?" He concluded that it did, or otherwise she wouldn't have cried the way she did.

"No. It turned green. Bluish green. Maybe this is their definition of blue, I…" her voice trailed off as she started crying again.

Oh man. What to do now? He was never in this kind of situation before! "Does the… uh… father now about this?" Again, he hoped she wouldn't slap him for that.

She turned to face him. Her eyes looked huge, like a puppy's eyes. Their color was like liquid chocolate. "I told him an hour ago. He didn't even want to hear it. He said it probably wasn't his, and how could I even know it was his. He made me feel so worthless…" her voice broke again as she cried harder. Hearing her nearly broke his heart.

He didn't realize how close to one another they sat until he felt her warm tears soak through the material of his shirt. He hesitated, but then slowly wrapped his arms around her, letting her cry into his chest. "Shhh… don't cry… everything is gonna be okay," he murmured soothingly, gently stroking her back.

This seemed to have helped. She calmed down gradually, but didn't let go of him. They sat like that in silence for couple of seconds before she slowly pulled away from their embrace. She laughed kind of nervously. "I'm sorry, I don't remember your name," she said.

Could it be blush that he noticed rising in her cheeks? She seemed embarrassed by this confession. Mark knew he should be offended. Two weeks were enough time to remember someone's name, especially if you shared an apartment with him. But he wasn't offended. He was mesmerized by her eyes. Then he realized he was staring at her while she was still waiting for his answer. He blushed. She seemed to have noticed. "Mark. Mark. I'm Mark."

She looked at him desperately, new tears already glistening in her eyes. "What the hell am I going to do, Mark?"

He was speechless for a moment. She was asking him for advice? And then he thought of something. "You can go to the hospital. One blood test, and you'll know for sure."

"Will you come with me?" she asked, looking at him pleadingly. It felt as if she could look right through him. How could he refuse?

"Sure," he said quietly, removing her hair out of her face. "I'll go with you."

* * *

Maureen was clinging to his arm all the way to the hospital, like a lost child. She was obviously terrified. Mark had no reason to be terrified, but he was really worried about her. Once in the hospital, a young nurse took her away to an examination room. They ignored her request to let him go in there with her. They said they were married, but no one seemed to buy this story. So Mark stayed behind in the waiting room. He chose an uncomfortable plastic chair and waited for the miserable girl who didn't even remember his name. 

After what felt like hours but was merely thirty minutes, Maureen came back. She sat heavily on a chair next to his. She seemed exhausted and a little pale. At least she had stopped crying.

"You okay?"

"I'm a bit dizzy. I just need to sit down for a while."

"When will they have the results?"

"The nurse said I can come and pick them up this afternoon." She paused, then looked at him seriously. "Thank you. For being there."

He shrugged. "Glad I could help."

She hesitated. "Do you mind… if we'll keep this between us?"

It's not like he thought of telling this to anyone. But if hearing this would make her feel better… "Your secret is safe with me," he assured her.

She smiled. She had a beautiful smile, he noticed. "Thank you. I'm sorry I didn't know your name by the way," she added, smiling sheepishly.

"That's okay," said Mark, squeezing her hand gently. "Ready to go home?"

"Actually… I think I wanna take a walk. I need some fresh air. You go. I'll be back later."

"Are you sure?" Should he leave her alone after all that?

Maureen nodded. "Yeah. I need to be alone for a while." She probably noticed his hesitant expression, for she then said, "Don't worry. I'll be fine."

"Okay," he said, standing up. "I'll see you later then." He slowly walked away. Right before he left the hospital, he turned to take one last look of her. She was still sitting there, staring absent-mindedly at the opposite wall.

* * *

Mark was sitting on the couch but couldn't do anything. He was flipping through a recent copy of the Village Voice, mostly in order to ignore Roger's questioning looks. He was worried about Maureen. It's been hours since he had left her in the hospital, and she still didn't come back. He knew the results should be there soon, and he couldn't help feeling nervous about it. He hoped she was okay. 

"Benny, what time is it?"

Benny just glared at him suspiciously. "It's 2 minutes and 53 seconds since the last time you asked, man," he said, rolling his eyes. "What the hell is wrong with you today?"

"Nothing," muttered Mark under his breath, desperately trying to focus on the paper he still held. Yeah, right.

Then, ten minutes or so later, the door burst open and Maureen stormed into the loft. She had the biggest smile on, he noticed, relief washing all over him. Nothing was left from the devastated, hopeless girl he held in his arms hours before.

Maureen's smile widened as soon as she spotted him sitting there on the couch. "Mark! Just the guy I was looking for!" she announced. Benny and Roger raised their heads from whatever they were doing as they heard those words. She was looking for _Mark_? To their amazement, but mostly, to Mark's amazement, she launched herself onto his lap and planted a kiss on his lips. He was too shocked to even kiss her back, but she didn't seem to mind. "I'm not," she whispered into his ear, giggling. All he was able to do was smiling like an idiot. Maureen returned his smile. She stood up and pulled him into a standing position as well. "Come on. Let's go someplace for dinner." He said nothing. He was still a bit stunned. "Come on! Get dressed!" she persisted, pulling his arm. He nodded weakly, and she gave him a quick crushing hug before disappearing down the hallway and into her room.

Mark just stood there, unsure of what to do. Then it dawned on him that Benny and Roger were still in the room, staring at him incredulously.

"Okay. What was _that_ all about?" asked Roger.

"What I would like to know is what he could have possibly done to deserve this kiss," added Benny. The jealousy was clear in his voice.

Mark said nothing. He had no intention telling them her secret. _Their_ secret, he corrected himself. He smiled. He liked the way it sounded. "That's… between us," he said mysteriously before he turned his back to them and walked to his room.

He could still hear them wooing even after he closed the door.


End file.
